A/N: Day one continues, with a bit of fun. Also What do you think of the new title?
Chapter Dedication:mekio777. Thanks for reviewing!
Chapter Nine
Remus and Lily led the way to the dungeons and took a passage going in the opposite direction as the Slytherin common room. Rain looked in that direction sadly. Remus noticed.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine," he said reassuringly.
"Slytherin can't be that bad," said Lily reasonably.
Remus just stared at her in disbelief.
"It is when you're Muggleborn," said Rain, too depressed to argue.
"I'm Muggleborn,"said Lily. "I have to put up with being called 'Mudblood' all the time. It's just a word."
"But you're not in Slytherin," said Rain. "You're not afraid to go to sleep at night, thinking your dorm mates are gonna mess you up while you sleep. You have no idea what it's like to be hated—no loathed—by people who are supposed to help you and be your friends."
They entered the classroom and the teacher looked up. "Cutting it a bit fine, you three," he said. "I hope you'll be on time in the future?"
"Yes, Professor Slughorn," said Lily. "We were just with Professor Dumbledore."
Professor Slughorn nodded. "Take your seats then."
Remus and Lily took their seats on the Gryffindor side of the room, while Rain found a seat on the Slytherin side. Glares found her as she sat down in the only empty seat next to none other than Severus Snape. It was hard to tell which student was more disgusted to sit next to the other.
Slughorn began the class by taking roll. He paused at Rain's name. "Ah yes our new Slytherin," he said. "Bone, tell me are you related to Augustus Bone? Creator of ginger newts?"
"No, sir," said Rain. "Bone is my mother's maiden name and she's a Muggle."
"Oh," he seemed disappointed. "What about your father, what does he do?"
Rain mumbled under her breath.
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."
"He's a computer programmer," Rain sighed. "He's also a Muggle."
"Oh," now he was shocked. "A Muggleborn Slytherin, how peculiar..."
He went back to calling names without another word. After that he set students to work on creating a Wiggenweld Potion, magicking the instructions on the blackboard. Rain stared at the board a moment, shocked. She silently berated herself for not absorbing One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi the way Dustin did.
While everyone was getting their potions started, Rain pulled out her Potions book and started looking up what the ingredients looked like. Ten minutes later, the room was full of bubbling steaming potions and Rain had only just started on hers. Twenty minutes later, almost everyone was done, Rain was only halfway done, only just now adding the sloth brain mucus. Honestly, this was disgusting. By the end of class, everyone was finished except Rain whose potion was completely the wrong colour, having a sickly yellow tinge instead of copper.
In the end, Rain had to give up, handing in her unfinished potion just as the bell sounded for the end of lesson.
"You're all dismissed," said Slughorn. "Except Miss Bone, can I see you please?"
Rain walked up to the teacher's desk, dejected look on her face. "You wanted to see me, Professor?"
"Yes. Bone, you seemed to be struggling in this lesson and it's not a very difficult one."
"Well you see, sir, this is my first Potions lesson."
"You mean to tell me your old school in America didn't have Potions?"
"No, sir, I'm saying that I only just found out I'm a witch. I got my letter this July."
"You're joking!"
"No, sir."
"Well in that case, I shall have to assign someone to help you," Slughorn started to riffle through his parchments on his desk.
"Actually, Professor," said Rain. "Professor Dumbledore has already assigned Lily Evans and Remus Lupin to be my tutors."
"Excellent students to be sure," he said, looking a little miffed. "But wouldn't you prefer someone in your own house?"
"No, sir, Remus and Lily are nice to me, everyone in Slytherin hates me, they call me 'Mudblood'." She didn't know why she was telling him this, usually she tended to keep her problems to herself. Perhaps she simply felt overwhelmed.
"Oh that won't do. Have Miss Evans or Mr. Lupin tutor you here after lessons tomorrow for Potions. This class can be dangerous if done improperly."
"Yes, sir, thank you."
"Yes, well, off to lunch then," he ushered her out.
Outside the classroom door, Rain collided with someone, bringing them both to the ground. Laughter filled the corridor. She clambered to her feet and discovered who she knocked over.
"James!" Rain said in exasperation as Sirius, Remus, and Peter continued to laugh.
"Ow. Merlin, Rain! Why'd you have to hit me so hard?" he got to his feet, rubbing the back of his head and fixing his glasses, which had gone crooked.
Rain smirked. "Thats what you get for standing so close to the door. Consider it payback for running me over in Diagon Alley."
"Fair enough," he said, running his hand trough his already messy hair, making it messier.
"Why are you guys hanging out here anyway?" Rain asked.
"We thought you'd like company to the Great Hall," said Sirius.
So they headed up to the main floor. It was at the Entrance Hall that Rain realized something.
"You guys were eavesdropping weren't you?" None of them looked at her. "You were! Spill!"
Peter, the first to crack, nodded sheepishly, while the others looked at him in exasperation.
"Face it, guys, I know every trick in the book, you can't pull one over on me," Rain said with a smirk, finally feeling a little cheerful.
"Oh you know every trick in the Muggle book," said Remus. "But we know every trick in the Magic book."
"Is that so?" said Rain as James turned around and walked backwards in front of them.
"Oh yes," he said. "We've been pranking for three years and rarely get caught."
"Oh really?" said Rain, surreptitiously removing her wand from her robes. Remus caught this movement but said nothing. "Offendo!" she said pointing her wand at James.
Walking backwards, he had no time to react, and sprawled out onto the floor as the Trip Jinx hit him. Remus, Sirius, and Peter all laughed along with Rain. Students looked around in confusion at the commotion.
Rain walked over to the fallen Marauder and held out her hand. He eyed her suspiciously before taking the offered hand and pulled himself up with her help.
"That's so you don't get too full of yourself," she said teasingly before walking into the Great Hall ahead of the Marauders.
As they sat down at the Gryffindor table, Sirius thought of something.
"I thought you said you only knew the Permanent Sticking Charm," he said accusingly.
"I lied," Rain said simply, grabbing a sandwich from the pile on a plate in the center of the table, and taking a bite.
"How is it that you learned these spells without a teacher?" Remus asked.
"I'm very good at teaching myself from books. That and I practiced on my brother. He didn't mind, he just thought is was cool."
"But you can't do magic outside Hogwarts until you're seventeen," said Peter.
Rain shrugged. "No one told me that."
"I expect you won't get away with it this summer," said James. "They probably have a Trace on you now."
"A what?" asked Rain.
"A Trace," said Sirius. "It's so they can track underage magic. It's very imprecise, though. For example, if you were standing near some other wizard, and they cast a spell, the Trace would register."
"As a result," said James. "They tend to ignore the Trace when it involves an underage wizard in a house where there are known wizards living. So in other words, I can use magic while at home because the Trace goes off even when my parents use it."
"That sounds a bit pro-pureblood, though, doesn't it?" Rain asked.
"You'll find that a lot of things in this world are pro-pureblood," said Sirius with a scowl. He was looking at the Slytherin table as he said this.
Rain glanced over to see more stares of contempt. "Why does the universe hate me?" she moaned.
"It's alright, Rain," said Remus. "You only have to dorm with them."
"And have every lesson with them," added Peter. The boys glared at him. "What?"
"Not Muggle Studies, though," said Remus, cheerfully. "No Slytherin would be caught in that class."
"Except me," Rain said, cheering up a little.
"Why would you take Muggle Studies if you're Muggleborn?" asked James.
"Well, I just wanted to take something easy," Rain reasoned. "Did you see me back in Potions? That was a nightmare!"
"You'll get better," said Sirius.
"Oh, speaking of which, Remus," Rain directed her next words to her tutor. "Slughorn said that you and Lily can tutor me in his classroom tomorrow afternoon."
"Evans is your tutor?" James asked in shock.
"And Remus," said Rain. "Why? Is that a bad thing?"
"No," said Sirius. "He's just jealous because you get to spend time with her."
"Oh, does he fancy her?" Rain asked, testing out the new British word.
James went red. "That's none of your business, Rain."
Rain smirked. "She's very pretty," she commented. "And clever, too, I imagine. What's not to like?"
"She hates his guts," said Sirius with a smirk.
"She does not!" said James, miffed. "She just hasn't caught on to my charms yet."
Rain snorted, nearly inhaling her sandwich. The other three Marauders laughed along with her.
A/N: The spell for the trip jinx was never said in the books, so I used the Latin word Offendo which means stumble or blunder. R&R!